You Little Minx
by starflake12
Summary: What if Robin chose Barney over Kevin?


**Title:** You Little Minx  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 6,398  
><strong>Characters:<strong> The main five and some family members  
><strong>Pairing(s): <strong>Robin/Barney, Marshall/Lily, Ted/The Mother  
><strong>Genre:<strong> FLUFFY FLUFF, Romance, Humor  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Hmm, let's say T for language and references to sex? Still new to this  
><strong>Warnings: <strong>Unbetaed, mistakes are all mine, feel free to correct me, and they go a little OOC at the end  
><strong>Summary:<strong> What if Robin picked Barney instead of Kevin?  
><strong>Spoilers: <strong>Up until 7x13**  
>Author's Note:<strong> Yes, I know. I'm sure it's been done a number of times, but I wanted to do it my way. Also, the look on Barney's face when Kevin walked in behind Robin KILLED me! He was so crushed! Also, I'm not entirely happy with this, I might go back and edit scenes or insert a few things later but for the most part it _is_ complete.  
><strong>Author's Note 2: <strong>I think _HIMYM_ is a GREAT show with GREAT writers and the storylines this season have been AMAZING! I don't even read fanfic for the show because canon is so good, but like I said his face crushed me! I know they're going to keep me hooked with more excellent storylines, I just really hope that Robin is the one Barney's marrying, but I'm scared she might not be. Therefore, in order to soothe my broken heart (and Barney's) I wrote this.  
><strong>Author's Note 3:<strong> I CANNOT believe that the scene breaks weren't put in when I uploaded from Word! GRR! Let's try that again!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, not mine.

* * *

><p>"Sooo, yup, I love you," said Kevin from his position on the hospital bed in the ER waiting for a response from Robin.<p>

"Look, Kevin, there's something I have to tell you."

"Then, Don't."

"What?"

"If there's one thing I've learned as a therapist, it's that 'just because something needs to be _told_, doesn't always mean it needs to be _heard_.'"

"Kevin, I did something bad."

"We've all done bad things. That doesn't mean we're bad people," replied Kevin because he knows. He knows what she did. He's a psychiatrist and people are sort of his _thing_. He could tell by the way she and Barney were behaving all night long. He also knows that it was a mistake for him to get involved with someone who was clearly not over her ex. He tried to avoid it, but he couldn't and eventually he found himself here in this situation. He's in a situation where he's in love with a wonderful woman, who, unfortunately for him, is in love with someone else. So, he does the only thing he can do in this situation and lays it all on the line in a last ditch effort to win the girl of his dreams.

"Look, I don't care about every detail from your past, and I hope you don't care about mine either. What I do care about is you and that from tonight forward, you're in this as much as I am. What do you think?"

"I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?"

"Come here," Kevin said as he gently took the hands of an emotional and frustrated Robin.

"I am constantly amazed by the things you say, entranced by the things you do, and unlike a certain jalapeño, coconut, vodka martini, you're easy on the eyes," he said with the hint of a smile. He continued, "If we're together long enough, I hope that one day, you see yourself the way I see you."

"That's a pretty good answer," she tells him, but he can tell from the look in her eyes that it's not good enough.

"I cheated on you."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

"Sooo, yup, I love you," said Kevin. He sat there on the hospital bed in the ER waiting for a response from Robin, who couldn't bring herself to say it back.

"Look, Kevin, there's something I have to tell you."

"Then, Don't."

"What," she asks in confusion. She doesn't understand where he's going with this so she just waits for him to give her some sort of explanation.

"If there's one thing I've learned as a therapist, it's that 'just because something needs to be _told_, doesn't always mean it needs to be _heard_.'"

"_Oh,"_ she thinks, _"he knows."_ She tries her best to say what needs to be said as delicately as possible because it needs to be heard too.

"Kevin, I did something bad."

"We've all done bad things. That doesn't mean we're bad people," replied Kevin.

"Look, I don't care about every detail from your past, and I hope you don't care about mine either. What I do care about is you and that from tonight forward, you're in this as much as I am. What do you think?"

All Robin's thinking about right now is how convincing he sounds. It sounds like he forgives her, and he's such a _nice_ guy. She feels so guilty for betraying him. She doesn't know what to do now and she's so confused by her emotions.

"I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?"

"Come here," Kevin said as he gently took the hands of an emotional and frustrated Robin.

"I am constantly amazed by the things you say, entranced by the things you do, and unlike a certain jalapeño, coconut, vodka martini, you're easy on the eyes," he said with the hint of a smile. He continued, "If we're together long enough, I hope that one day, you see yourself the way I see you."

"That's a pretty good answer," she tells him, but she knows it's not good enough. It's sweet and exactly the answer she expects from a nice guy like Kevin, but it only serves to remind her that he doesn't know her that well. He doesn't really understand her crazy, messed up ways any more than she herself does. She knows he's the safe choice, but he's not her best friend, and his answer's too naïve for her.

"I cheated on you."

The look on his face is disheartening, and she can tell he's crushed, but she had to do it.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before asking, "Was it a one-time thing?"

"What?"

"Can you tell me it didn't mean anything?"

She looks at him then and just gets a faraway look in her eyes as if she's somewhere else because she is. She's at Punchy's wedding dancing with Barney ready to tell him how she feels. She's on the roof of the neighboring apartment building watching as Barney prepares to leap by looking straight at her. She's at the Rangers' game watching Barney punch Brad in the face. She's at Barney's place drinking scotch and smoking cigars, wearing a suit. She's on her couch watching _Robin Sparkles_ videos with Barney. She's at a Tim Hortons' coffee shop watching as Barney defends her, and then promptly gets beaten up. She's outside a club dressed in ridiculous clothes standing next to a Barney with pink hair. She's at the Natural History Museum pulling various pranks with Barney. She's assaulted with image after image of her and Barney: trying to get a bad picture of him, high-fiving him randomly, playing laser tag with him, performing background checks on Ted's crazy chick-of-the-week, making fun of Lily and Marshall with him, but later talking about wanting what they have. She thinks about the time he had Ted teach him things about her, the time he told her he loves her independence and the way she doesn't need him, and the way he smiles when he calls her a minx, and she knows her answer before she says it.

"No."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Barney is watching the clock as the pendulum swings back and forth with each second that passes by.

_Tick, Tick, Tick_.

He hears Ted, Lily, and Marshall come up behind him and tells them how he broke up with Nora. He waits at the bar with a glass in his hand and nearly drops it as Robin comes in. He knows he's smiling like an idiot, but he can't help it. He's wanted this for a long time now, he's wanted to be happy, and now he can finally let himself have what he wants. She walks in and sits in the seat next to him in their booth, while they listen to Ted and Marshall tell a strange story about 'sandwiches,' nachos, and a creepy guy with a guitar. Then, he follows her out of McLaren's after she tells the rest of them she's going to 'call it an early night.'

When they get up to her room, she pauses outside her door and turns to him.

"We're really doing this, right? No more screwing around, right?"

He gives her the most charming grin he can muster before he opens the door. He watches her take in the rose petals and the candles and he'll admit, only to himself, that he'd give up all of his suits just to see her smile that way at him all the time.

She turns to him, shakes her head and gives him a little smile before saying, "You're an idiot."

He smiles like an idiot, and he knows he's going to be doing that a lot more often before leaning in to kiss her. Before he moves in that last little bit, he whispers, "I love you, too," then presses their lips together.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

He wakes up in the middle of the night and looks at Robin on the other side of the bed. Before he can get up and start to get dressed, however, Robin turns over, leans into his side, and mumbles, "Not a one night stand, Barney."

"Oh, right."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

She's sitting on the toilet of Marshall and Lily's new suburban home trying to eat cheese in peace when Barney taps on the window. She gets up to let him in before sitting down on the edge of the tub. She watches on, amused by his attempts at getting through the window. Once he's inside in one piece, he sits down next to her and leans in to kiss her.

"You know if you wanted to christen Lily and Marshall's bathroom for them, you should have called. I would have ditched Ted hours ago."

She loves that he makes her laugh. She also stores that idea in her mind for later because the bathroom is definitely big enough. Plus, it would make them even considering Lily and Marshall conceived their little boy in Barney's tub.

"What's going on with him now?"

"He tried to adopt a baby. Poor guy's going through some stuff. He even tried to rope me into it. Can you imagine me being someone's Dad?"

"I'm pregnant."

He looked up at her in shock before he smiled like an idiot again.

"That's wonderful! I'm going to be a Daddy!"

Robin promptly passed out.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

She's sitting on a park bench drinking her eggnog when Barney comes up to her and sits down next to her.

"How'd you find me?"

"I've got a guy."

"Barney, that's just creepy."

He smiles at her, "Ted called earlier saying you flipped out at him?"

"Ted should mind his own business!"

"He's right, though."

When she looks at him as if he's betrayed her, he elaborates, "As your friends, it is our job to cheer you up. We don't need to know what's wrong, but we do have to cheer you up."

She smiles at him as she tosses the empty eggnog container in the trash can. She stands up and extends a hand toward him to pull him up and says, "Let's go home."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

She's confused when the lights don't turn on in the apartment, and when she looks at Barney, he just smirks at her before closing the door and leaning against it. She doesn't jump when the lights go on and the music starts playing, but she blinks in surprise when Lily and Marshall come out from behind the tree and Ted comes out of the kitchen.

"Yes, it is," Ted says.

"Save it Ted, I already gave her the lame 'we're all friends forever' speech," Barney responds.

"Damn it, Barney," Ted whines, as he jumps up and down like a petulant child, "We agreed I'd get to that."

"Oh well, it doesn't matter, everyone be quiet," Ted continues, "I don't want her to miss the best part," he says as he grabs Robin's shoulders to turn her to face the tree.

"_I'm on the highway to HELL! I'm on the highway to HELL!"_

She watches as Lily and Marshall jump around while pointing to the lights flashing "Merry Christmas, Robin." Lily's not so much jumping as bouncing on the balls of her feet, but Ted and Marshall are giving it their all, while playing air guitar and she can tell by the look on Barney's face that he's seconds away from giving in and joining them. She watches them and is moved by her friends and their displays of affection and she's still reeling from earlier that she finally lets it all out and bursts into tears in front of all of them. Then she turns around and wraps her arms around Barney, who returns her embrace and just holds her. Lily comes up behind her and wraps her arms around Robin, who in turn laces the fingers of her right hand with Lily's. She then smacks Barney upside the head when he makes an inappropriate joke about a threesome.

"I'm kidding!"

Despite the tears running down her face, she manages a small smile, but hides it in his shoulder. She feels Ted and Marshall join their group hug and can't help but spare a thought to Kevin's comments about their little group's codependency. She'd take their socially inappropriate behavior over "normal" relationships any day.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Later she and Barney are at his place and she's staring at the ceiling. He wakes up and is about to make his attempted escape yet again, but stops when he notices that she's awake.

"Hey," he says.

Her only response is to lift the corner of her mouth in a failed attempt to smile.

"I got you a present. Check under your pillow."

"Barney, if this is one of your magic tricks, I'm really not in the mood."

"Okay 1) everyone is always in the mood for a little magic. It makes children happy, and the ones with fire are especially cool, and B) it's not a magic trick, just check under the pillow."

She digs underneath her pillow and pulls out an envelope. She turns on the lamp and rips the seal open to find two open tickets to her hometown in Canada. She looks up at him in confusion until she sees the nervous expression on his face.

"They're open, but I kind of had a date in mind. Jerr-My _Dad_ invited us on a family trip. Well his exact words were 'You should come and bring that gal pal of yours,' and who says gal pal, anyway—"

"I'd love to go to visit the homeland with you," she smirks.

"OH GOD, you're never letting the Canada thing go, are you?"

Her smile fades as she remembers they're going on a _trip_ with his dad's _family_.

"Did you mean what you said before?"

"When," he replies.

"What you said about having kids?"

He sighs as he sits up, "I'm sorry you can't pole-vault."

She's confused by his abrupt change of the subject until she sees the expression on his face.

"Wha-How did you know?"

He digs in his nightstand to pull out test results that were mailed to his place because she wrote Barney's address down at the doctor's office. She didn't want Ted coming across the results somehow.

"She called me in; why'd she mail the results too?"

"Well, there's an invoice with them."

She's about to start crying again, so she lets him pull her into his arms.

"You want to go to Spain? We can run with the bulls," he says in an attempt to cheer her up.

She laughs in response and raises her eyebrows at him.

He responds with, "Okay _you_ can run with the bulls. I'll make us Sangria. And Tapas," he says excitedly.

She raises her eyebrows again.

"Okay, so I'll get Guy to get me a guy to make us Sangria. And Tapas! We can have Sangria in Spain!"

She shakes her head and smiles, "You're an idiot."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Robin and Barney were sitting on the couch in her and Ted's apartment while Robin was flipping through the channels.

"Check it out, Sandy Rivers' New Year's Eve show," she scoffs. "Thank God I don't have to produce this frozen pile of poo."

"How'd you manage to get out of that? Pull the old 'sick with flu' bit? O-or the old 'visiting the family' bit? Oh oh ooor, did you say—"

"Shut up, Barney."

"Ok."

"He picked Tina, the producer, who's apparently more talented than I am…at lying down while Sandy does his business on her."

Barney nods his head in approval with a grin on his face, which fades when he sees the look on Robin's face. He immediately starts shaking his head in disagreement.

"I never liked that Sandy guy anyway," Barney scowls.

Robin hides a smile behind her glass. She will never admit out loud that she thinks he's cute when he's jealous.

"Besides, you should be on the air, living your dream of being a reporter. I know you miss it, but your job's the in for you, you're on your way to the top, the deluxe apartment in the sky, Mt. Ever—"

She scoffs in denial and interrupts Barney in a pitch much higher than her normal one.

"Wha? Why would I-Why would I miss it? No! I would rather be warm and cozy here in denial-my apartment."

While they were talking they failed to see Sandy and Tina fighting on screen, so they're surprised when they're interrupted by the phone ringing.

Robin answers the phone, "Hello?"

Her expression quickly morphs into one of confusion, "Sandy?"

"Tina quit. The woman I love just quit."

"Love?"

"She's my everything, Robin! My sun, my stars, my oxygen—plus she likes it fast and dirty, and that's how Sandy RIDES!"

Robin can hear the sounds of New York screaming in the background and grabs Barney's finger when he starts to poke her with it.

"I need you here, ASAP."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

When Barney went to the bathroom to ensure all the customers were gone, he discovered Sandy Rivers sprawled in his bathtub.

"You must be from the escort service. The scenario is a high school wrestling match."

Barney was completely grossed out and was about to kick Sandy out of Ted and Robin's apartment when his phone went off. He retrieved it from his pocket and answered it.

"Go for Barney."

"So, get this? I lost Sandy Rivers."

Barney looked at Sandy again before continuing his conversation with Robin "Did you? Huh, well that's interesting."

"This night has been a disaster. This is the second time I've lost him. I really doubt he went back to Tina's after proposing a threesome with me."

"Wait, he did WHAT?"

"Focus, Barney!"

"Alright, alright, I am the king of focus, I'm the captain of focus, I am—"

"BARNEY!"

"ALRIGHT," Barney exclaimed, while he stared at Sandy, then he thought about what he said to Robin earlier.

"Robin, why don't you just do the show yourself? You don't need that over-moussed, grinning wannabe ladies' man, anyway! You are Robin Scherbatsky, and you're about to host New Year's Eve 2011 on World Wide News."

"No, Barney, I can't do that."

"Well, too bad, Scherbatsky, you don't have any other options, so you go on the air and you be AWESOME! I mean, what do you think; Sandy Rivers is just going to turn up in your bathtub? HAH! Yeah, right," Barney said as he hung up on Robin. Before he shut the door, however, he hit Sandy upside the back of his head for good measure, _and_ for hitting on Robin one too many times. Then he left the bathroom, shut the door behind him, and went to sit on the couch and wait for Robin to count him down to the New Year.

"Oh my God," said Ted as he sat down on the couch next to Barney, while Doug swept up the floor of their living room behind them.

"This is Robin Scherbatsky, filling in for Sandy Rivers. You know, America, tonight, I've been groped, stepped in puke, and until ten minutes ago had no idea I would be on national television—"

"Go get 'em, Scherbatsky," Barney interrupted.

"But, that's the magic of New Year's. When that clock strikes midnight, we all get a fresh start, and I don't know about you, but I could really use one."

Barney's smile turned wistful as he recalled exactly what she was talking about before turning bright again as he watched her count down.

"And that magic moment starts in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR, America! I'm Robin Scherbatsky, filling in for Sandy Rivers. Have a great 2012, America."

Barney smiled, while wearing one of Doug's wet hats, and sent a text off to Robin:

_Happy New Year, Scherbatsky, xoxo._

His phone buzzed a second later.

_Did you get to brag to all of your _Puzzles' _patrons that you get to sleep with the girl on TV? :D_

Barney grinned at his phone because seriously, he loved this girl!

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

It's Lily's 34th birthday, and she's in her third trimester and she is ready to pop. Marshall's running around like a chicken with its head cut off making sure everything is perfect for her birthday. The house looks great, and he's icing the cake this year to make sure there are absolutely no mistakes.

"_Happy 34__th__ Birthday, Lily."_

Marshall sighed to himself as he finished icing the cake, "There—it's perfect!"

He takes the cake from the kitchen to the dining room and sets it on the table before heading to the living room. He finds Robin and Barney hanging up the rest of the decorations. Well, Robin's hanging up the rest of the decorations, Barney's trying to distract her, and it appears to be working. Marshall's almost certain Barney's trying to convince Robin to sneak away for a while and have sex somewhere in their suburban home. He wants to be mad, but as long as they do it before dinner so as not to ruin Lily's day, he's okay with it. Besides, not only did he conceive a child in Barney's tub, but he also thinks those two crazy kids are perfect for each other, and if they've finally got it right, who is he to get in their way?

When he hears the doorbell ring he answers it and finds Lily's dad, her grandparents, and his mom there.

"Wha-Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Oh you didn't think I'd miss my very pregnant daughter-in-law's birthday, did you?"

"No, of course not," Marshall said in a voice that lacked any enthusiasm.

"Come on in everyone," he says before he turns around and leads them into the dining room. He notes that Robin and Barney managed to sneak away. He shakes his head and wonders how he's going to handle everyone being here without some help, but before he can figure it out, the doorbell rings again.

"_Oh thank God, Ted's here,"_ he thinks. When he answered the door, however, Ted was standing there with a blonde woman on his arm.

"Ted," Marshall hissed, "What are you doing?"

"I thought you said he knew you," the blonde asked.

Marshall just rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, Marshall, Lily will be cool with it. Don't you remember two years back?"

"That was normal Lily, this is Lily with pregnancy brain," Marshall said as he led Ted and his date inside.

"Whoa," said Ted, "Does –uh–Lily with pregnancy brain know that her dad, her grandparents, and your _mother_ are here," questioned Ted.

"No, not yet," Marshall mumbled quietly.

Just then Lily came into the dining room.

"Okay who's ready to eat ca—," she stopped mid-question, as she noticed all the people in her living room. Before she could ask what was going on, however, Marshall burst into song.

"Happy Happy Lily Day!"

Ted in an effort to help his friend out of a tough situation joined in, and told his date to do the same.

"But, I don't know this song…" she whispered back.

"It's just 'Happy Happy Lily Day,' it's not that hard," he replied back.

Fortunately, no one heard their banter because Marshall and Lily's relatives had picked up on the song rather quickly and were singing it as well.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Lily watched her friends and family as they gathered around the table and sang to her.

"_This is nice,"_ she thought. Then she noticed Barney and Robin sneak into the dining room and start singing along with everyone as if they'd been there the whole time.

"_Huh,"_ Lily thought, _"I wonder how she got her hair so neat after sex. I'll have to ask for her secret."_

She smiled as she noticed Robin fix Barney's tie. She decided she'd let them sit together in the picture this year, after all they were living together. She also decided she'd wait until everyone left to kill Marshall for inviting all these people to their house on her birthday.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

The trip with the Whittaker's really isn't that bad. Robin and Jerry get along great. Once Barney manages to get over his jealousy, he and J.J get along pretty well too. Cheryl is motherly and welcoming. Carly, however, is a bit of a moody young adult, so Robin makes it a point to introduce her to her sister, Katie.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

They're all hanging out at Lily and Marshall's when Lily rushes in from the kitchen.

"My water just broke!"

Barney immediately stands up and says, "I know what to do," and then faints and falls to the floor.

Robin merely rolls her eyes, "Come on, Lily, let's get you in the car and take you to the hospital."

Meanwhile, Ted's been running around screaming, "The baby's coming? The baby's coming now? As in right now? Oh, oh where's your bag? Is it in the closet? I'll go get it! Oh no, there's no time! Lily, when did your water break? Should we rip up some sheets and boil some water in case we have to do this the old fashioned way? Do you need a massage? Marshall, how come you're not helping ME?"

The last question is directed at a very calm Marshall who is sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and his arms folded across his chest.

He stares at Ted and has an amused look on his face, "Hmm, not bad, you guys. Ted, you get an A for effort, but you get a B for follow through, and an F for panicking. Barney gets an F for panicking and being useless, but he gets an A for effort and an A for follow through because, well, let's face it, when Lily actually goes into labor, it's best if he just stays out of the way. Robin, excellent work, A's across the board. You remained calm, executed a plan, and began to follow through, great work!"

Robin smiles in response to Marshall's praise while Barney begins to come around.

"What happened? Did Lily have the baby?"

Everyone stares at Barney, until Ted exclaims, "No, she didn't have the baby and I'll tell you why. Lily and Marshall were trying to test us and see how we'd react if Lily went into labor."

"Oh. Fair enough," he says as he shrugs his shoulders and sits back down on the couch.

"Robin was the only one who passed," said Ted.

"Well of course, she passed," said Barney, "she's delivered a baby before."

"WHAT," the other three exclaimed simultaneously.

Robin, however, didn't go into detail about her mega awesome show, and instead stared at Barney in shock before replying, "You watched my show?"

"So, what if I did? It's not a big deal. It's not like say shredding a suit!"

Robin just sat down next to Barney on the couch before kissing him and stating, "You're gonna get so lucky tonight!"

"High Five," exclaimed Barney, with a grin, as he held his hand up to Marshall.

Marshall looked at him in disappointment for a moment before responding by grinning, stating, "Yeah, okay," and high fiving Barney.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

They're all hanging out at Lily and Marshall's when Lily rushes in from the kitchen.

"My water just broke!"

"Lily, come on, don't you think, we've practiced enough," Ted questions.

"No, this is not a drill! I repeat, 'this is not a drill!'"

Barney immediately stands up and says, "I know what to do," and then faints and falls to the floor.

Robin merely rolls her eyes, "Come on, Lily, let's get you in the car and take you to the hospital."

Meanwhile, Ted's been running around screaming, "The baby's coming? The baby's coming now! As in right now? Oh, oh where's your bag? Is it in the closet? I'll go get it! Oh no, there's no time! Lily, when did your water break? Should we rip up some sheets and boil some water in case we have to do this the old fashioned way? Do you need a massage?"

Marshall gets up off the couch, grabs the bag from the closet, and shakes his head while looking at Ted with disappointment.

"You were showing signs of improvement! You passed every practice exam, but failed the real deal," Marshall states, before handing Ted the bag and hoisting Barney over his shoulders to load him into the car.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Little baby Erikson looks just like his parents.

"Hey, Hurricane—"

"That is _not_ his name," Lily interrupted Ted with a smile.

He chose to ignore her as he continued speaking to the newest member of their little family.

"I'm your Uncle Ted—"

"Yeah, and I'm your much cooler Uncle Barney," Barney interrupted.

"Will you guys quit interrupting me, I'm trying to have a moment with Hurricane, and—"

"That's _still_ not his name," Lily repeated, while Marshall took their son from Ted and brought him over to her on the hospital bed. They both looked up at Robin and noticed tears in her eyes.

"Sweetie, do you want to hold him," Lily asked.

"Can I?"

"Of course," Marshall said as he handed his boy over to one of his best friends.

Robin looked down at the tiny little baby in her arms.

"Hey there kiddo, I'm your Aunt Robin. Now, I'm not good with kids but I've loved you for the past eight months, and I will always love you. I'll teach you how to play hockey, and when I babysit I will make you pancakes with maple syrup. I am so glad you're here and part of our family because we've got the best family, kiddo," Robin said before looking up at her friends.

She noticed Marshall and Lily Eskimo kissing,

"I love you, LilyPad."

"I love you too, MarshMallow."

She noticed Ted and Barney still arguing about which of them was the cooler, more awesome uncle, while Barney kept sending glances her way. Robin shot him a quick smile before looking back down at 'Hurricane.' She rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friends' antics before whispering to 'Hurricane,' "Yeah, don't worry, they'll grow on you."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

"Barney, behind you," Robin yelled as she quickly dropped to her feet and rolled across the floor of the laser tag arena in Pasadena before shooting the kid who was about to attack Barney. He shot three more teens before hiding behind a wall with Robin.

"Well, this is familiar," Robin said, breathing heavily.

Barney stopped looking over his shoulder and turned to Robin. He took in what she said, and smiled for a moment before really looking at her. There she was dressed in laser tag gear. Her eyes were protected by goggles, and she held her laser gun at the ready. When she finally noticed him staring, she said, "What?"

Instead of replying he leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, then quickly ran away to go back to beating teenagers at their own game.

"Barney, we're outnumbered" she yelled as she followed after him.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

"Barney, we were just here, what are we doing back—wait, why is the place empty? It should be crawling with teenagers."

"I rented out the place, it was surprisingly inexpensive."

"Okay, seriously, what do you do?"

"Ha hah," Barney scoffed with a grin, "Please."

She rolled her eyes at him. Before she could form a verbal response, however, the lights dimmed, and the room they were in just days before lit up in lights. Barney took Robin's hand and led her over to the small space behind the wall. He took a deep breath. He could do this. It wasn't hard. This was Robin! She's his bro! He drops down to one knee as he pulls a box from his pocket, and looks up when he hears Robin gasp. He practiced a speech and everything, but he's far too nervous to remember any of it. Also, he's pretty sure if Robin hears a sappy speech about love, and happily ever after, she'll run screaming in the other direction, so he skips to the end, and just asks her outright.

"What do you say, Scherbatsky? You gonna make an honest man outta me?"

Robin's mouth is open and her eyes are wide. Her expression can only be described as one of horror. However, she takes in their setting, and the trouble Barney went through to set everything up. He's even kneeling in his suit, getting his pants dirty. She takes a moment to really look at him, and sees the nervous expression on his face, and she just _knows_.

"Yes."

He grins at her before putting the ring on her finger. He gets up off the floor, wraps his arms around her and kisses her until they're both out of breath. They're smiling at each other until Barney pulls out his phone to call the others. The phone doesn't even finish the first ring before he hears a clicking noise.

"Did she say yes?"

"Dude, you didn't mess it up, did you?

"He messed it up? Barney!"

Ted and Marshall's voices overlap, and immediately after they've finished speaking, Lily's voice is heard in the distance. Robin laughs at her friends.

"I said yes!"

Sounds of whooping and cheering are heard in the background followed by a baby crying.

"Uh-oh, baby alert. Your turn, Marshall," Lily says, before speaking into the phone, "So, I'm the Maid of Honor, right?"

Robin just laughs again.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

"We're in Spain," she exclaims for what he thinks is the millionth time during their trip. Summer's coming to an end soon, and they both have a wedding waiting for them, but he's determined to enjoy this while he can.

"Yeah," he replies.

"You got pictures, right?"

"Yeah," he replies again, "come see."

She moves to sit down on the bed with him. They look at the pictures they'll be taking back to their friends. There's a number of them, but his favorites have to be the ones where she's dressed like a matador with a hat and a cape to complete the outfit. He thought her bullfighter costume made for some excellent role-play. The smile on her face after finishing that particular news piece was pretty awesome too.

"Lily's going to flip."

"Robin Scherbatsky—bullfighter," he exclaims before softly stating, "You know, you never cease to amaze me."

She smiles before she gets off the bed to finish packing everything from their clothes to the souvenirs they were taking back. He lights up a cigarette before asking if Robin wants one.

"No," she smiles sadly, "I quit, remember?"

"Soo, you're sticking to that," he questions.

"Yup," she says before continuing to pack. He sighs before putting the cigarette out and gets up to help her finish packing. She smiles because even though he's not quitting now, and he's not doing it for her, just like she didn't do it for him, he's still taking small steps, and Barney is definitely worth keeping around.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

"Ted," Lily states, "The bride wants to see you."

Ted leaves Lily to deal with Barney while he goes to fulfill the second half of his Best Man duties. He knows it's weird being the Best Man to both the bride _and_ the groom, but a promise is a promise. He opens the door to reveal Robin standing there looking as beautiful as the day he met her, and says, "You brought it, huh?"

Robin smiles at him in relief. It's not as if she needed someone to tell her she looked good, but it's nice to hear. After Ted finishes reminiscing with Robin, and reassuring her that she _chose the right veil_, he heads out to take his place next to Robin's sister so he can walk her down the aisle. Marshall and Lily follow behind them. They in turn are followed by Marshall's mom, who is pushing baby Marvin, the ring bearer, down the aisle in a stroller. James follows pushing his daughter in her stroller while tossing out flowers behind her. When Robin comes in, he turns to look at Barney, and he really hopes the camera guy captured that expression because he's definitely going to tease him about it later. He smiles at himself and watches as they promise to love and respect each other for the rest of their lives, and hopes one day he'll have what they have.

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Marshall and Lily are sitting at the table playing with Marvin, when Ted says, "Hey do either of you know that girl over there?"

"What girl, dude?"

"The one with the yellow umbrella."

"Hmm, oh yeah," says Lily, "she works with Robin."

~BRBRBRBRBRBRBRBR~

Robin and Barney are dancing when Ted interrupts them.

"Duuude, never _ever_ interrupt a bro while he's dancing with his wife at his own wedding!"

"You just made that up," says Ted.

"Yeah, I did," Barney replies with a grin.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter! Robin, who's that girl holding the yellow umbrella?"

"My friend Caitlin from work."

"Introduce us."

"Okay," Robin replies, but before she can follow Ted, the music changes.

"_Let's go to the mall, everybody!"_

Robin glares up at the stage where Barney is grinning and about to speak into the microphone.

"Barney, don't you dare—"

"Attention! May I have your attention, please? Today, right here, my lovely bride will be performing one of her hit singles, 'Let's Go to the Mall!' Everyone give a warm round of applause to Robiiiiin Sparklllles!"

Robin's trying to burn a hole in Barney's tux with her stare, when all her guests and friends cheer and applaud. She smirks before heading up to the stage leaving Ted pouting behind her.

"Hello everyone, my _husband_ and I will be performing a lovely duet together, seeing as how this is his _favorite_ song."

Ted watches as Robin and Barney make total idiots out of themselves but are laughing, and genuinely enjoying themselves before Marshall and Lily join them on stage. Ted eventually joins them while keeping an eye on the girl with the umbrella. When they finish, Barney and Robin share a sweet kiss for the crowd before running off in search of food. Ted is disappointed until he notices his mystery dream girl is talking to Robin. He saunters up to Barney as casually as he can, and when Robin notices him, she looks to Caitlin, and says, "Have you met Ted?"

_And that kids, is the story of How I Met Your Mother._

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! :)<p> 


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